Going Pro
by Celtic Water Spirit
Summary: Jesse Anderson felt there was something missing in his seemingly ordinary, grey life. Then his rare ability and passion for dueling catches the attention of Maximillion Pegasus, who wants to sponsor him. A legendary deck brings color to his life and a scholarship to North Academy opens the door to a new beginning. However, spirit trappers want to close it. (Jesse's pre-GX life).
1. To Dream of Duel Academy

**Going Pro**

**Main Characters:** Jesse Anderson (Johan Andersen)  
**Pairing:** None.  
**Genre:** Adventure/Friendship  
**Rated: **T for occasional harsh language and awkward teenaged puberty themes.

**Summary:** Jesse Anderson felt there was something missing in his seemingly ordinary, grey life. Then his rare ability and passion for dueling catches the attention of Maximillion Pegasus, who wants to sponsor him. A legendary deck brings color to his life and a scholarship to North Academy opens the door to a new beginning. However, spirit trappers want to close it. (Jesse's pre-GX life).

* * *

**Chapter 1: To Dream of Duel Academy**

"It's just over the water and beyond the horizon," Jesse said to himself as he stood at the docks in Domino City. "Duel Academy, I wonder what it's like?" he mused to himself. When he closed his eyes and thought carefully, he could hear the spirits in the city. There were so many here, not like back home, where there were few and far between. This city seemed to attract duelists and those with spirits.

Only very several years Jesse Anderson and his mother would visit some extended family that lived near Domino City. These trips were quite the ordeal for Jesse and his mother since they lived all the way in Scandinavia. Throughout Jesse's young life, he looked forward to these visits, because they involved going to Kaiba Land and visiting some amazing Duel Monsters card shops. He loved dueling and everything that had to do with Duel Monsters. It was no secret either. Everyone knew that if they knew him at all.

During Jesse's school break after his first year of high school, he and his mother took a plane all the way to Domino City so Jesse could see some of his father's family. His father disappeared when he was very young, so all Jesse had left of him was some old photos and these occasional visits. His father's family and his mother thought it was important for Jesse to know both sides of the family and keep up the language fluency.

Since Jesse's fifteenth birthday already recently passed, his great aunt baked him a cake for a small family party when he arrived. When he blew out the candles on his cake, he had one wish. Duel Academy. It was his dream school and very prestigious, not to mention the boarding was on the expensive side, at least to him. His mother didn't exactly make a lot of money and wasn't able to afford an international boarding school. However, it wasn't just the cost. Jesse couldn't bring himself to leave his mother alone yet. He was a smart kid, so even though he disliked school, he often got high grades anyway and could probably pass the entrance exam. But no matter how much he loved dueling, he couldn't bring himself to fill out the admission application.

"Jesse, since you just turned fifteen, I thought you might like to take a look at this brochure," his great aunt told him and handed him a Kaiba Corporation Duel Academy Island brochure. "Since you love dueling so much, you might think about doing it for a living it you think you are good enough."

"Thank you, Auntie," Jesse smiled. "I will think about it." His eyes gazed at the cover longingly. He frequently fantasized about attending Duel Academy Island off the coast of Domino City. It was the most prestigious dueling school in the world, so who wouldn't? Everyone knew about it, even though it had not even existed for very long. Even if he never got to attend, he would give just about anything to visit and see it. That volcano, the beaches, to see the ocean sunset free of light pollution, and most of all, the forests. Forests were home to something else Jesse was very interested in. There must be at least a dozen exotic breeds of insects there. He would catch them all if given the chance.

Back home, before his grandfather passed away a few years ago, Jesse would catch bugs all around the house. His grandfather taught him all about them and told stories. Even though his grandfather was no longer with him, Jesse would still try to find and capture new insects to learn about. They were one of his favorite things, so he even based his other favorite thing on them, resulting in an insect themed dueling deck.

"Oh Jesse, is that a brochure for…" his mother trailed off as she looked at him.

He looked down at the item in his hands and smiled back at her. "Oh yeah, Auntie thought I should look at it," he said.

"How about you eat your cake in the other room? There's a big duel starting on the Dueling Network channel," his mother suggested.

"Sure, Mom," he said and left. He felt kind of bad though. His mother was going to speak her dislike of the brochure to his great aunt. It wasn't that his mother didn't want him to go, she wanted the best for him, she just didn't want to get his hopes up for something he can't have, and he was aware of this.

Jesse's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. So he took another mouthful of his chocolate cake and opened his flip phone. It was a text message from his friend, Julia.

"_Hey, how's Domino?" _- From Julia.

Jesse didn't actually have many friends. From an early age, he was labeled as being _weird_. It wasn't until he was a little older when realized that not everyone could see duel spirits, so others would see him talking to nothing and think there was something seriously wrong with him. He also had a little bit of an obsessive personality for the two things he liked, being insects and Duel Monsters of course. Jesse wasn't sure if Julia could see spirits since he never talked to her about them. They had only known each other for a year since they started at the same high school back home. They had a lot of classes together and she thought he was funny since she always laughed at his jokes, no matter how lame. Friendship sprung quickly between them and they kept in contact during school breaks.

"_I'm having cake! Then I get to go to Kaiba Land tomorrow :D" _- Message Sent.

"_Lol ^_^" _- From Julia.

Jesse finished his cake as he watched the duel on the television when his phone buzzed again.

"_You'll be back in a week, right?" _- From Julia.

"_Yep"_ - Message Sent.

Soon, Jesse received some gifts from his family. Just gift cards and cash, even though he'd have to either spend it while he was in Domino City or have the currency transferred to be able to use it back home. To keep things simple, he planned to spend it all at Kaiba Land and whatever card shop he could find in town.

Just as promised, his mother dropped him off at Kaiba Land the next morning and he spent a lot of time in the arcade. If he was going to stay until nighttime, there was going to be a duel in the Kaiba Dome, but his mother or great aunt planned to pick him up before dinner. He could still watch the duel on live TV back at his great aunt's house.

Right when he left Kaiba Land to stand outside and wait for his ride, he felt his phone vibrate. When he looked at it, he found a text message from his mom saying that she was going to be an hour late. Jesse sighed and text her back.

"Guess I shouldn't have left yet," he said to himself and looked back at the gate. "Oh well," he shrugged and pulled up the hood of his jacket as started down the street. It wasn't long until he found a card shop. Jesse smiled when he looked up at the sign and went inside. It was still open. There were a few other teens inside so he took his time browsing through the cards. Maybe, just maybe, he would find that one gem for his deck. He always felt like there was something missing from his deck, and every time he thought he found it, that feeling came back. The hunt was never ending. His deck just wasn't complete and he knew that deep inside.

Luckily, the shop wasn't crowded with only two other customers. One person was a girl wearing a black uniform looking to build up her wind themed deck, and she looked like she was just about done in the shop. The other customer was a boy about his age wearing a black uniform and a red hat with brown hair sticking out from under it.

Over the next several minutes, Jesse barely noticed the girl leave as he studied two spell cards and debated whether or not to buy either of them. He was about to put them both back and just get a booster pack when the other boy walked by and said something.

"Hey cool spells!" he had said brightly without stopping.

Jesse looked up in time to see the boy already going up to the counter. He shrugged and put both the spells back and moved to the booster packs. Now he just had to decide which one.

"Yeah, yeah! I have to make sure my deck is at its best if I want to pass the Duel Academy exam," the boy from before exclaimed loudly, catching Jesse's attention.

"Boy was the written exam difficult, I sure hope I passed, but I also hope the practical exam is just as tough!" the boy had said cheerfully.

"Not many kids hope it'll be hard," the shopkeeper laughed.

"As long as it's a fun duel, am I right?"

Jesse felt a little twinge of jealousy towards the stranger. Duel Academy was the place to be if one loved to duel. Maybe he should have tried to apply, just to see if he could have got in. He still wouldn't be able to go, but it might still put his mind at ease if he knew if had what it took to get accepted. The boy in the red hat seemed to have what it took, and more than enough enthusiasm.

"Do you live around here? Haven't seen you in here before," the shopkeeper said.

The boy laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Not really, but I've made it my mission to visit every card shop I can before my test, it's hard to find the right cards for my deck," he explained.

Jesse understood exactly what he was talking about. One would never find the right cards without looking everywhere they could. Granted Jesse didn't make a day of visiting tons of shops in his own search.

Before he knew it, the boy ran out of the shop, obviously on his way to the next card shop for his self-imposed mission. It was a good idea to strengthen one's deck before a major test like that. Jesse wondered what kind of deck the boy had in his possession. Could it also be an insect deck?

Jesse decided on two booster packs, one spells and one insect monster pack. Hopefully there would be something good in them. He could always use some repeats of a few cards he already had to increase the likelihood of drawing them, though he tended to get the cards he needed when he needed them anyway. Once he started school again, he hoped to make a couple new friends that liked to duel as much as him. Finding people like that would make high school a little more fun.

As he left the shop, Jesse saw a small duel spirit fly passed him. He didn't think anything of it. Domino City was rich with spiritual activity. There was a reason duelists from all over the world tended to gravitate to this city, as if being drawn in by some otherworldly force. Someday, Jesse wouldn't mind living in this city as well. However, he also wanted to travel the world. He wasn't sure what he'd do during his travels, but he knew he wanted to do something. Perhaps he would find that something along the way.

After getting a snack from a convenience store nearby, he waited until him mom arrived and took him back to his great aunt's house. Turned out she borrowed the car instead of renting, which might have been the cause of her delay.

As soon as he got into the car, he could tell his mother wasn't happy. "What's up?" he asked.

"We going home early," she said.

Jesse's eyes widened. "Why?"

"There's a couple reasons," she started. "One, I got a call fron the young man that was taking care of your grandpa's horse while we were away, and he's moving already and won't be able to continue helping us out. Don't know why he couldn't tell us this before we left. I can't suddenly send her to a stable, it just wasn't in the budget."

Jesse nodded in understanding. He loved that horse and didn't want her to starve, so they had to go home to take care of her. Not to mention the dog and the cat too. Though the dog was at a kennel and the cat was an outdoor cat that could take care of himself. "What's the other reason?" he asked.

His mother pursed her lips together before answering. "Work called, they want me back tomorrow, but I had to tell them I was all the way in Japan, so they're only giving me a few days to get back."

Jesse glared out the window. He wished his mother would quit that job and find something else. The hours were long and she usually worked at night. She also got called in on her days off too often for his liking. "Alright," Jesse said instead. He also got the feeling there was another reason for going home early, something more personal, but she wasn't going to tell him.

And so his stay in Domino City was cut short. When the plane took off a couple days later, he looked at the horizon from his window seat and searched for Duel Academy Island. The plane was moving away from that direction, so he couldn't see it. Maybe he never would.

- - - - - - - - Line - - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:**

I suppose this was kind of like a prologue, so this chapter is a little on the short side and a little lacking in dialogue to start us out in following Jesse's story.

Note that he does not have the Crystal Beasts (Gem Beasts) yet. Until then, he has a deck similar to his manga deck.

For such an awesome (and popular) character, we know very little about Jesse, so here's my attempt to write some possibilities into a back-story that I will share on this lovely site. It could be completely off from whatever the canon intended.

I apologize in advance if 'Johan' ever slips in instead of 'Jesse'. I sometimes use the names interchangeably in conversation for reasons. **For anyone that hates dub names, simply copy&paste the chapters into your favorite text editor, such as word or works, hit CTRL+F, and replace all "Jesse" with "Johan" in one easy step, and read from there. **I debated long and hard about which name to use, because for me, it's not a big deal, but I know it is for others who only like Jesse or Johan. Aspects from the anime, sub & dub I guess, and the manga are going in this story.

Notes about grammar and typos should be sent through PM, so reviews don't become irrelevant. (This note is on all my newer stories.)

Sorry for the long author's note. This should be the only one like this unless something comes up.


	2. This Will be the Year

**Going Pro**

**Chapter 2: This Will be the Year**

Jesse yawned as he aimlessly looked through his cards while sitting on the fence of the horse's round pen. "I just don't know…" he whined softly to himself. He couldn't figure out what was missing from his deck. It was a great deck, but he simply had an explainable feeling that it wasn't right, that is wasn't finished, that there was something he needed.

After putting his deck in its holder, he hopped off the fence and had to push up a pair of simple gunmetal wire-framed glasses obscured his bright green eyes. Doing so reminded him that he lost one of his contacts and his mother decided he should go without contacts for a while so he wouldn't lose them again so easily. He did admit that he was losing them too often, but disagreed that going without would teach him a lesson.

Since he was bored, he would have liked to go into town and find a different card shop, but then he remembered how not even the card shop he visited in Domino City had anything that stood out to him. Living in the country sure had its pros and cons. Cons were simply the distance from town, meaning shops, entertainment, work, and school. Jesse couldn't just pick up his bike and ride in without considering the time of day and if he'd get home before his mother left for work that night. Pros included the fresh air, the open space, the quiet atmosphere that was so quiet one could hear the thoughts of thoughts. All those things could be great, but Jesse Anderson's favorite part of all was all the insects. Even since he was small, collecting insects was one of his hobbies.

He was going to go back to his high school very soon. His school break would be over and his mind would be back on other things. Before heading back into the house, he turned and checked on the brown quarter horse who slowly chewed on freshly tossed hay as its tail whipped to the side frequently. It was an elderly horse, so she wasn't ridden any more, instead Jesse would lead her around the round pen or into their small pasture for exercise. "Jade, you're getting to be an old gal now," Jesse commented and tapped the fence with his fist as he stepped away.

A yellow Labrador Retriever trotted up to him and licked his hand. "Hey, boy," Jesse grinned and pet the dog's head. "Com'on, Joe!" he called as he ran towards the house.

It was modest single story house, fairly old even though it has had many upgrades and repairs over the years. It was his grandpa's house. There was a small white car parked next to it under a canopy by the side door which led to the kitchen. Next to that same door was a blue bicycle that had been carelessly dropped and left there after it's last use.

Jesse opened the door and the dog weaved his way around Jesse's legs to get back inside first. The teen barely noticed since he was used to it and simply closed the door behind him.. After slipping off his brown boots, he stepped into the kitchen where he grabbed an apple from the counter.

He was going to go to his room when he stopped in the hallway to look over a set of familiar photographs. There was the picture he wished would be taken down, which was one of a young, beautiful, brown-haired woman looking happy as she held a sleeping infant with thin blue hair. His mom loved that picture, so no matter how embarrassing it was for him, it would remain on display. It also reminded him of how young his mother was when he was born. At least she looked happy in the pictures, but sometimes he wondered what could have been different.

Just under that picture was a close up of an almost toddler-aged Jesse where his hands were being held up above him by a man that stood behind him and helped little Jesse to walk. The man in the picture was cut off at the waist since it was focused on the baby. Jesse didn't even remember his father, since he disappeared when he was very young. Apparently Jesse resembled him a fair amount, except for the eyes, which resembled his mother's.

The next picture was one that Jesse was very fond of. He was probably four or five years old, sitting on his grandpa's lap as they hugged and laughed. Jesse looked very happy there. Everyone always said that he had his grandfather's heart. They were very close. The picture next to that was another picture of a young Jesse riding the horse, Jade, while his grandpa held the reins. He remembered he was going to visit his grandpa's grave again soon. He missed him a lot.

His phone buzzed in his pocket as he received a text message. The display clearly showed the name 'Julia'. She sent him a picture of her cat. It was fluffy white and brown house cat who loved to lay down on open books, which it was doing in the picture. Jesse smiled at the silly picture and replied back a quick "lol".

As he sent the text, Jesse continued to his room without looking at the other wall photos, each from different points in his life, like each school phase and some birthdays. When he got to his room, he put down his phone and pulled out the desk chair to sit. As he bit into his apple, he stared longingly at a Duel Academy brochure once again. He couldn't just leave his mom or the old brown quarter horse that used to belong to his grandfather. His grandfather was quite attached to the horse from the moment he saw her, and he lovingly named her Jade after the one of his favorite stones. After his grandfather passed away, there was no one else to take care of her besides Jesse, and Jesse wasn't going to let anyone sell her.

Leaning back in his chair, he was able to see Jade out the window, still in the same place he left her. Shadows were already cast as night drew near. His stomach knew it would soon be time for dinner. He wished he could cook, but he was so bad at it, he was practically banned from the kitchen. For some unknown reason, he couldn't cook to save his life, unless it was instant noodles or plain rice, and he has managed to mess up those before.

When he finished his apple, he set down the core on the desk and picked up his latest Duel Magazine. He flopped on his bed, pushed up his glasses, and held the magazine open above him as he looked at the pictures. There was a huge image of the latest duel disk design that was set to be released to Duel Academy first for standard use, and then to the general public within the next year. Jesse was so envious, he would love to try out the newest duel disk, where it retracted into itself and then compressed against the arm so its smaller and more manageable while not in use. It was also designed to function with card sleeves, which was something brand new to the dueling market.

"So cool!" Jesse beamed. "Wonder if they'll come out with more colors?" he wondered. Looking over, he spotted his classic duel disk on the shelf of his desk. He tossed the magazine aside as he got up and reached for the device. With proficiency, he inserted his deck and looked ready to duel.

He took a moment to admire the duelist in the reflection of the mirror. Now if only he could duel that reflection. He was certainly in the mood for a duel as it was, but there was no one around, as always. His mother didn't duel, but liked to watch, and he had tried to teach the dog to duel to no avail. If it didn't involve a tennis ball, the dog wasn't interested in any games.

Jesse glanced at the cell phone resting on his desk. He thought about calling a friend, including Julia, but it was getting kind of late for an impromptu duel. Biking into town just before dinner wasn't that appealing either. Luckily, there were handheld games, which he played for the next hour until his mother called for him for dinner.

They normally ate a little early since his mother would eat with him before she would need to leave for work for the night. Today was her one of days off, and she liked to use those to go out. Either way, Jesse did not see much of his mother these days. When this happened, he and his mother would eat their meal in the living room and watch variety or game shows together. Sometimes there would be a duel airing, and he would get to watch those sometimes too. It was a quiet life.

"Jesse, aren't you starting school again in a couple days?" his mother asked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Did you already get your new uniform?"

Jesse nodded again. He had grown since he started high school, so it was natural to need to get a new uniform after a while. "It's still grey, and it's hanging up in my closet, so I'm all ready."

"That's good to hear," she smiled. "Grey sounds so dull, too bad you didn't get a high school with a little more color, but it's the closest one isn't it?"

Jesse nodded and continued eating. He was about to say something when his mother's cell phone rang and she had to get up to answer it. Jesse didn't pay any attention to the call and focused on the TV. When his mother was done on the phone, she sat back down.

"My friend is coming to pick me up for a little outing tonight, you'll be okay by yourself, right?" she asked.

"Friend or new boyfriend?" he asked.

"Mm, I wonder," she laughed.

Jesse chuckled a little. "Well, have fun," he said. He didn't actually mind his mother dating and even though he had yet to meet any of her boyfriends, he just liked the fact she was able to have a little fun sometimes when she wasn't working.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

When he managed to drag himself out of bed the next morning, Jesse found his mother asleep on the living room couch from when she got home sometime in the very early morning. He didn't try to wake her, she probably had a hangover from her date last night. Doing his chores first took first priority.

After checking on the horse and tossing some more hay into the feeder, refilling her water, and then doing the same from their three chickens, Jesse found he really didn't have much else to do. The small greenhouse his grandfather used to grow a few vegetables and herbs was perfectly clean and his mother's car didn't need to be washed. The dog wasn't in the mood to play yet either.

"Sometimes, it's too quiet and peaceful," Jesse chuckled to himself as he went into the kitchen.

He got a simple breakfast and decided he would go into town today. The card shop was open and he was always on the look out for whatever could complete his deck. When he was done eating, he washed his dishes and made sure his mother knew he was leaving.

It wasn't long before he had his bag packed up with his duel disk and a few other things and he was on his bike heading for town. He didn't live that far outside of the city, so a little more than thirty minutes later, he passed the countryside and found himself entering the town itself. The card shop he had in mind was only a few blocks in so it didn't take him much longer to get to it.

Jesse locked up his bike and pulled out his cell phone to text Julia that he was in town. If she wasn't busy, he hoped for a friendly duel. Until he received an answer, he browsed all sorts of cards and let his thoughts wander. He hoped to make a couple new friends this year that liked to duel as much as him. Finding people like that would make high school a little more fun. No matter what happened this year, he would try to make the best of it.

His phone finally buzzed in his pocket and he looked at the text. "_Sorry, I can't today." _- From Julia.

Jesse frowned and didn't respond. So much for that idea. As he left the shop empty handed, with no new purchase, he paused on the sidewalk when something peculiar caught his eye. There was a little Watapon spirit following a grade school girl. He noticed the girl never acknowledged the spirit, but the spirit didn't seem unhappy as if bounced through the air.

Smiling, he thought how it must be nice to have someone always looking out for them, even if they didn't know it. After pushing up his wire-framed glasses, Jesse headed back to his bike. School started again tomorrow, so he needed to be ready. He hoped this would be a year of many changes in his life. Though only good changes, of course.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

The air was chilly on his way to the first day of class. Jesse Anderson had put on his regular gunmetal wire-framed glasses, adorned is grey male uniform, and put only a little product in his blue hair since it was already naturally spiky and liked to flip upwards. The product was mainly to help is hair stay neat during his bike ride to school. It was important to make a good first impression in the first day back to class.

After locking up his blue bicycle next to the school, Jesse started walking casually into the building. He already found out what classes he had and he knew that Juila had a lot of the same classes too. His other friends hadn't stayed in touch with him much, if at all, over the summer break, so he wasn't sure who else he'd be spending his days with.

Jesse had just found his locker when a familiar voice called out his name. "Jesse!" she said and ran up to him. It was a girl with straight chestnut hair that went a little past her shoulders and she had green eyes. She was a little on the short side, only reaching little above his shoulder, and she was adorning a new grey girl's uniform.

"Hey, Julia," Jesse smiled as he closed his locker. "How's it going?"

Her eyes glanced downwards for a second. "I'm alright, but I'm a little bummed out from all the grey uniforms," she said and fanned out her grey skirt a little as she made a sour face.

"I had to wear a grey uniform in middle school too, so I guess I'm used to it by now," Jesse smiled.

"Wow, that's a bummer, I think by the time I'm done with school, I won't want to wear grey ever again!"

Jesse laughed. "Well, guess that makes two of us!"

"Yeah!" Julia smiled at him. "Though it's a little sad, I used to love grey. By the way, why are you wearing your glasses? I figured you'd wear your contacts today."

Jesse scratched the back of his head and chuckled in spite of himself. "I lost one of the lenses again and my mom won't let me replace them for a while," he admitted.

"Oh, that's too bad, you have nice eyes too," she said while a small smile.

Jesse shrugged. "There's nothing I can do right now, but I will get a new contacts soon," he told her. Julia nodded and then rose an eyebrow under her bangs. "What is it?" he asked.

"And when were you planning to tell me you got your braces off?" she tried to glare, but the sparkle in her eyes clearly said she was amused.

"Oh!" Jesse's eyes went wide. "I guess I just plum forgot!" he grinned, purposefully showing off perfect teeth. He had already forgot all about getting his braces off since it happened as soon as his school break started. He hadn't realized he didn't get to see Julia all summer. First she went all the way to Hawaii with her family and then he was leaving for Japan. Guess e-mail and text kept them in touch enough.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that, plum and everything," she rolled her eyes. "Looks great by the way. What kind of retainer did you get?" she asked as they started walking together.

"The clear kind, I only have to wear it at night already," Jesse explained.

They continued to chat until they got to their class where the first period teacher took attendance once everyone sat down after the bell. First period was English, taught by a woman with black hair and a stern face. She had only read off one other name before getting to Jesse's. "Mr. Anderson, Jesse?" she read off the list.

"Here," he raised his hand and the teacher nodded to him at his place near the back of the room next to the window.

Looking down at the list, she read the next name. "Miss. Autumns, Julia?"

"Here," Julia raised her hand from the seat right in front of Jesse. They both looked around the class, trying to figure out who all they would be seeing every morning for a while.

After a minute, the teacher got further down the list. "Miss. Summers, Simone?"

"Here," a girl raised her hand from her seat in the middle at the front of the class. Jesse let a small sigh escape when his eyes landed on her. She was very pretty. Perfectly smooth and thick golden hair cascaded down her slender back. Her big dark eyes made her look so sweet and kind. Jesse's never talked to her before, but he already knew a little about her. Simone was near the top of the class, athletic, and was quite popular. He heard she was charitable too and participated in many events.

His first classes were quite boring. English, math, and economics didn't really interest him. He thought about taking Italian, but it wasn't being offered this year as far as he knew.

At lunch, Jesse talked with some of the other boys in his class and they looked at each other's dueling decks. During the last few minutes, he sat at his desk in his next class and when Julia got there they chatted a little too before their next class started. The rest of the day was just as uneventful.

After school, Jesse and Julia walked to the bikes together. She didn't ride a bike to school, but she wanted to talk to him a little more before going home.

"Do you think you'll join any clubs this semester?" she asked idly.

"I don't know, I was thinking about joining the track and field team again," Jesse answered.

"The track and field team? Why aren't you going for the Duel Monsters Team?"

Jesse sighed. "I dunno… just don't feel like that's where I belong. I want to duel, I love to duel… but there's something else calling me," he drawled slightly as thought and he looked up at the sky. He shook his head and looked at his friend again. "It's like I need to be moving… probably just have too much energy, so I think a sport is what I need."

Julia simply looked at him for a few seconds. "Well, I supposed too much energy could be true, your favorite subject has always been P.E.," she the last part with a knowing smile and he laughed a little.

"Gosh Julia, you know me too well," he laughed. "I can't believe you remember I said that!"

"That wasn't all you said, you also said you didn't like to be classes at all unless it was P.E.," she said.

"Not like that's a big secret," he chuckled.

"I wish I could be like that though," she said.

"What do ya mean?"

"Not care about class and do as well on exams as you do, I'm not as naturally smart as you, so I actually have to study!" she pouted.

"Aw, come on, I study," he deflated.

"A half hour counting a food break is not what most people would consider studying!" she countered and Jesse just laughed it off.

"I guess the material just hasn't got hard enough for me yet," he defended.

"Is there anything you can't do?" she said with her hands on her hips.

"Uh…" he thought about it. "Cook?" he answered.

Julia sighed as her hand came to her forehead. "I should've known you would say that…" She was well aware of the fact that not only could Jesse not cook, but he was so bad at it, his mother would write him notes to excuse him from having to participate in cooking or baking activities in school. She believed him when he told her he was barely allowed in the kitchen at home, and that it was dangerous.

"I might try to make something again someday, as long as there's a fire extinguisher nearby," he grinned and she giggled softly as she tried to hold back her laugh.

"Just go home, Jesse," she shook her head.

Jesse stopped laughing and grabbed his bike. "Yep, I gotta get going, see you tomorrow!" he said and hopped on his bike.

"See you tomorrow," Julia waved as she watched him ride off and around the corner after he passed the gates. Once he was gone, she tucked her hair behind her ear and walked off alone.

Even though the wind was chilly as be peddled his bike, Jesse thought it felt nice as he rode towards the countryside. The ride was mostly uphill, but that was nothing for him these days. He was as fit as a horse. Instead of taking the shortest route to his house, he took a detour so he could pass by the cemetery. Today he did not plan to stop and visit, but he still wanted to wave to his grandfather along the way. He knew exactly where his grandfather's headstone was.

Jesse had heard that sometimes the spirits of humans would stick around for some reason, but he had never seen any. However, duel spirits were plentiful. He would see them around, usually only around other duelists. Sometimes he wondered why he seemed to be the only person he knew that saw them, but then he would forget about it. It was not like he thought himself insane. Somehow, he just knew it was meant to be this way.

When he got home, he dropped his bike by the side door as he normally would and went in through the kitchen. The house seemed empty. The driveway was empty too. When this happened, he knew just where to look. There was a note on the kitchen table.

'_Got called in. Will be home early in the morning._

_Love you, _

_Mom xoxo'_

Jesse left the note where it was and turned to the refrigerator and was about to open it when he saw some oranges on the counter and took one before sitting at the table to peel it. The house was empty and quiet. Not even the dog or cat had followed him inside when he got home.

"It's… kind of lonely."

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:**

Just an average life so far. Kind of boring and lonely, nothing too bad.

For this fanfic only (of mine), Jesse has less than perfect vision. He's too perfect in the anime, so he needs at least one minor flaw (physically), though nothing wrong with magane. I thought about trying to see how making him either completely or red-green color-blind might work, but decided against it. Losing his contacts is a problem though, so he's not getting them back until he might be able to go a while without losing one.

Notes about grammar and typos should be sent through PM, so reviews don't become irrelevant.


	3. A Friend's Struggles

**Going Pro**

**Chapter 3: A Friend's Struggles**

The next few weeks passed by before Jesse Anderson even realized it. He got back into school mode and got a new duel simulation game for his handheld game station and since there weren't many people to duel against at school with class breaks being so short, he would play his game a lot at home. It was supposed to be a really long game, but he was already over halfway through it.

Right in the middle of the week one Wednesday morning, he was almost late for school from staying up late playing his game. After hurrying, he was going to just make it on time. Sometimes it kind of sucked to live a little over thirty minutes away by bicycle.

He locked up his bike and jogged inside with only a few minutes to spare. As soon as he entered the building, he heard several students laughing in the hallway. Jesse wasn't really interested in whatever they were doing, he needed to be in his class seat ion time since his first period English teacher was strict about that. Just as he passed the group of laughing boys, he couldn't help but stop when he saw familiar straight chestnut hair in a less than usual position.

Julia was kneeling on the floor in the hallway picking up her books. Jesse didn't really think anything of it, everyone had clumsy moments, especially at school, and in the morning. Even he fell over this morning in his hurry to get his pants on. He approached her and kneeled down as well to help pick up some papers that had slipped out of a folder. It wouldn't be very nice to leave a friend when he knows how strict their teacher is about being late.

"There ya go," he smiled as he handed her the folder, and as soon as she looked up at him, his smile dropped when he saw tears being held back in her eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She sniffed and forced a smile. "What? Nothing," she said as she took her folder and carried it with the rest of her things.

Jesse looked behind him and realized the boys' comments and laughter was directed at them, though mainly her. Frowning, Jesse stood up quickly and approached the boy in the middle. Jesse knew the guy, he was current vice-president of the Duel Monsters Team, and a well-known senior. There were three others with him, two seniors and two juniors, but Jesse didn't care about that. "You did this, Chris," Jesse stated.

The senior known as Chris raised an eyebrow at Jesse. Chris stood about six inches taller and had to look down. "No man, she fell all on her own."

"Oh I get it, you tripped her," Jesse accused. "What kind of guy are you? You can't just go around tripping girls."

"I didn't trip her," Chris defended with a wide grin.

"Then one of you did," Jesse said. He was sure of it. The tears in Julia eyes, the laughing boys, and the blood he now noticed on her knee. If she had tripped on her own, she wouldn't cry even a little, but she was targeted and mocked.

"Jesse, I'm okay, it's doesn't matter," Julia tried.

"Yes it does," Jesse gritted. "Guys like them make the rest of us look bad," he said and looked back at the other guys. The confrontation had started to gather a crowd as other students stopped to watch or wonder what was going on. "Ever heard of being a gentleman? Even if it was an accident, you help lady pick up her books, not point and laugh like idiots."

"What did you call us?" One of the juniors questioned.

"Idiots," Jesse repeated, slowly and clearly. He was sure he was going to get punched in the face for saying it, but he didn't care if that happened. Not like he wanted to go to class anyway. Heck, if the guy broke his glasses, then his new contacts would come sooner than he thought.

"You wanna go, you brat?" Chris threatened.

"Name your game, I'll be there," Jesse challenged. Chris was about ready to grab him when a teacher yelled at the growing group of students to get moving since the bell was about to ring in a minute. Everyone started scatter and shuffle along.

"If you think you can beat me in a duel, you're dead wrong. Meet me in front of the school on Friday after school, loser loses their best card and their uniform, meaning you'll have to leave in your underwear," Chris said.

"You're on," Jesse agreed, though his fists clenched.

"Jesse! You can't agree to that," Julia exclaimed.

"Later, Losers," Chris laughed as he turned away.

"The stakes don't matter, I won't lose," he said loud enough for Chris and his friends to hear as they headed to class. Chris made an offensive hand gesture before going around the corner. Jesse turned back to his friend he smiled a little. "Besides, someone has to prove them wrong, I'm defending your honor here."

"You don't need to do that, Jesse," she defended. "I'm not some damsel."

Jesse chucked and they started walking to their class. "I know, but I've been itching to duel, this just gives me a good reason to by sticking up for a friend, not to mention the stakes he put in place make things more interesting."

"You're crazy…" she sighed. "But if you lose, I won't forgive you," she smirked. "So why do you think he set it for Friday?"

"Fridays are when there will be the biggest audience, he wants to humiliate me when everyone pulls out their cameras and phones," Jesse explained. "Also, I think there is an event today and tomorrow they're dueling another school's duel team."

"Oh yeah, today's Wednesday," Julia remembered.

They barely got to class on time and didn't get to talk again until it was over. Jesse had kept an eye on his friend and noticed that even though she seemed alright when they talked, she was still anxious and withdrawn.

"Hey, Julia," Jesse started. "Don't let guys like Chris get to you, the next time someone pulls something like that, yell at them, tell a teacher, duel them, whatever it take to call them out on what they did."

"I'll try," she nodded.

"You're a nice person, so I don't want to see you get taken advantage of," he added. In the short time he's known her, he quickly became aware that she avoided confrontations. She tended to suffer in silence and let the world go on. He could tell there was always something she wanted to say to him too, but she never did. Jesse figured it couldn't be that important, but he'd be just a phone call away when she decided to spit it out.

"Thanks, Jesse."

Jesse nodded and watched as one of Julia's friends came to talk to her. He got lost in thought quickly. Not even thinking about his classes, his mind was set on the upcoming duel.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

Jesse sat at his desk in his room that night with his cards laid out in front of him. It was getting late. He should be going to sleep. Anxious wasn't the right term for how he was feeling, but excited wasn't quite right either. No matter, his body was restless enough for sleep to be near impossible. He wished Track and Field would start earlier in the year. Nothing good came from having too much energy and nothing to do with it. Maybe that's why he was so quick to pick a fight? Not that he thought he picked one, but he was mature enough to admit that he kind of did a little.

Now that some time had passed since the confrontation this morning, Jesse realized how silly and rash it was. However, he didn't regret the outcome. He was sticking up for his friend, one the nicest, sweetest people he had ever met, who didn't have the nerve to put others down. Just this once, he was going to do it for her. Hopefully she'll gain a little confidence by watching him. Like him, she didn't seem to have a lot of other friends either, and no enemies. She had never been a target until now. Jesse knew she wasn't asking for it. It just wasn't possible she did anything to warrant a mistreatment, not by anyone, especially those guys.

Just who did they think they were? If they were so great, they would be at one of the Duel Academies dueling everyday, instead of dueling team at a regular high school. Since those guys thought they were so high and mighty just because they were upper classmen and one of the held an officer position on the dueling team, Jesse didn't mind the thought of taking them down a peg. Even though Jesse normally didn't want to see people hurt, humiliated, or mocked in any way, he thought this might be fun.

Jesse had headphones on even though he was home alone and could listen to music on the speakers instead. It was out of habit. His mom had the night off tonight, but went out on a date with her new boyfriend instead. It was getting close to midnight in the morning, so Jesse hoped she was alright. He also hoped she wasn't getting too drunk.

He was surprised when his phoned buzzed as he received a text message. Picking up his phone off his desk, he looked at the message. Thinking it would be from his mother, he was shocked to see it was a message from Julia instead. She never texts him late at night.

"_I don't feel well. I'm probably not going to be at school tomorrow. Sorry if I woke you up._" - From Julia.

Jesse scratched his head as he thought about how to reply to that. It was quite late, he should be asleep right now. Although, so should she. She was probably about to go to sleep too.

"_Hope you feel better :)"_ - Message Sent.

Since he had spent all this time waiting up for his mother, Jesse finally gave up and turned his music off and went to bed. He kept his phone nearby, just in case. After taking off his temporary glasses, sleep came to him easily as soon as his head hit the pillow.

At some point during the night, he heard his mother come in and say something to him. He only managed a small groan before turning over and pulling the covers up to his chin. Before he knew it, he felt his mothers hand on his forehead for a few seconds when she said something again right before she left and closed his door again.

In the morning, Jesse had to drag himself out of bed after his alarm clock went off. Eventually, he managed to get up and going with great effort. He barely even recalled when his mother got home earlier that night. She was still sleeping as he got ready for school and he didn't want to bother her. Hopefully she hadn't asked him to do something, because without a note, he couldn't recall whatever it might have been. He continued to think about it as he quickly did his morning chores. He was running a little late, so he had to everything quickly. Feed the animals, change their water, toss a stick for Joe to chase as he did everything, and he even gave the cat a couple pats on the head as he headed back inside.

Jesse sat at the kitchen table with his bowl of cereal and turned on a small television that rested up on a shelf. He made sure to keep the volume low to not be a disturbance. There weren't any big name duelists competing this season, so the rookie leagues were getting more attention. The graduates of the Duel Academies around he world were spoken highly of, even if their record wasn't the absolute best.

When he finished up his cereal, he looked at the clock and realized he was supposed to leave ten minutes ago. He would really have to hurry to school to make it on time. Yesterday he was only a little behind schedule, but today there was no way he'd make it there on time. He certainly didn't want to face his teacher. She could be scary.

"You know what?" Jesse said to no one. "I'm skipping today."

He didn't want to go to school anyway. It was boring and there wasn't anyone to duel, at least not until Friday. Chris sure was confident, but then again, so was Jesse. One of them was going to lose their best card and their uniform when it was over. Julia wasn't happy about the whole thing though. Jesse felt kind of bad about it. It was his decision to pick a fight, but it was actually her fight if she had wanted it. That was the problem though, she wouldn't fight. Conflict and confrontation were things she actively avoided. In fact, it was thanks to her that Jesse was saved from getting into trouble on two separate occasions. Now that he thought about it, he never even thanked her.

"I'm the worst," Jesse deflated. He had to think of something he could to make everything up to his friend. Just winning the duel on Friday wasn't going to be enough, since she didn't want the duel to take place anyway.

With a burst of inspiration, Jesse got an idea. He moved around the kitchen quickly and gathered up various items from the cabinets and refrigerator. After rolling up his sleeves, he grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the sink and placed it on the kitchen table for even easier access. He was going to make soup for his ailing friend.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:**

I repeat, there are no pairings/ships in this fic. Even though Jesse is male and Julia is a female, this is not a canon/OC story. Like all friendship genres, you are free to interpret their interactions as you like. You are allowed to ship it or anti-ship or whatever the kids are calling it these days, and of course, be completely neutral.

Next up, Jesse gets to duel. If he waits any longer he's going to go crazy.


	4. Embarrassing Uniform Ante

**Going Pro**

**Chapter 4: Embarrassing Uniform Ante**

There was no warning when Jesse showed up at Julia's door around noon that day. He did not call or text. When Julia opened to her door, she stared wide-eyed for several seconds at the blue-haired boy standing on her doorstep. He was just smiling calmly, waiting for her find words as she opened her mouth and tried to speak through her surprise.

"W-what? Jesse, what are you doing here?" Julia stammered as she tried to comb her figures through her messy bed hair.

"I brought you soup," he flashed a grin and then scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "I guess I should've called you first, but I kind of wanted it to be a surprise," he laughed.

"W-what?" she was so confused. She wanted to ask why wasn't he at school.

"You said you weren't feeling well, and since I'm skipping today, I brought you soup to help you feel better," he explained. "When I was little, my grandpa used to make me soup when I got sick. It didn't matter what kind of sick I was, it always made me feel a little better."

"Oh, um," she quickly stepped aside. "Please come in if you like," she offered.

"Sure," he smiled brightly. "I noticed there's no cars in the driveway, are your folks at work?" he asked as he slipped off his shoes.

Julia nodded as she closed the door. "It's fine though," she said. "I don't need anyone to take care of me when I'm just not feeling well."

They both walked into the kitchen, which was brightly lit from the sun in the windows which reflected off the white cabinets, walls, and counters. Jesse put down a zipped lunch carrier and tuned back to her.

"Did you make it?" she asked.

"I tried," he chuckled and then opened the lunch carrier to take out a lidded glass bowl. "Might be too cool now, so you can microwave it to get it hot again," he suggested.

Julia took the dish and opened it. "It looks good! I thought you were a horrible cook?"

"I am," Jesse dropped his head. "My mom made that one."

"…I don't understand?"

"Well, there was kind of two fires and the dog started barking and then the smoke alarm when off after I put them out, so all that woke up my mom, and she made it for me when I told her it was for a friend," he explained.

Julia's eyebrows were high up on her forehead as she listened to him, but as soon as he finished, she burst out laughing. She only had a small, weak laugh, but Jesse still knew she was laughing as hard as she could. Her sides were probably splitting as tears started to well up in her eyes.

'_Well, they say laughter is the best medicine, but…' _Jesse thought.

"Don't make fun of me," he pouted.

Julia's laugh had already died down to tiny giggles, and she took several breaths to calm herself. "I'm sorry, Jesse, I didn't mean to, but the image of you panicking over a pot of soup while everything that could go wrong happens was simply too much."

"Why would you assume I panicked? I handled it fine, I'm used to fires and other weird things happening," he defended.

Julia nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I suppose that's true."

Once again, like most conversations he had with her, he got the feeling there was something else she wanted to say, but withheld. He often wondered if he should ask about it, or even how to ask about it. However, after considering, he always decided to be patient and if it was important, she would tell him when she was ready.

"Thank you for coming all the way here to check on me," she said quietly. She took a couple bowls out of a cupboard and set them on the counter.

"My pleasure, but it was really nothing," he chuckled.

"You're too giving, Jesse, always putting others' wellbeing before your own," she said, already placing both bowls in the microwave and setting the time.

"What you mean?" Jesse tilted his head.

"You're a good friend, Jesse, too good actually. You're always sticking up for me-for others, and if you keep looking out for people, it's going to get yourself into trouble one day."

Jesse looked down for a second, thinking about her words. Sure, he's helpful sometimes, so he didn't really understand what she was talking about. He's just being himself. "Even if the worst happens to me for the sake of someone I care about, as long as I had the power to help them, then I'll have no regrets."

"Just… be careful okay?"

"I'll try."

"Just so you know," she began after another minute. "Jesse, you don't have to duel tomorrow."

Jesse blinked. "Yes I do."

Julia sighed and sat down at a table with her steaming bowl of soup. "I know…" she said.

Jesse was confused. She just said the opposite a second ago, right? There was always something else she wasn't saying. It was kind of frustrating sometimes. Like always, he wasn't going to pry.

"Have some soup too, Jesse, it's good," she smiled at him.

"Sure, thanks." He sat down with her. "You've kept me out of trouble before too."

"I have?"

Jesse nodded. "You know how I get. I can't help it, I have to do something, but I understand you're worried that something bad will happen, so… thanks for caring," he smiled.

Julia's face flushed a little in embarrassment. "You don't have to thank me, I'm just a worrier."

"Still."

They were quiet as they ate a little. After only a minute, she looked up at him from across the table. "Come up with any strategies?"

Jesse grinned. "You bet I have."

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

Jesse wasn't surprised when students gathered all around to watch the duel after school. Duels were still entertaining to watch, and ones like this to settle a conflict didn't actually happen all that often. Chris stood meters away as they both readied their duel disks. Jesse was glad the older boy didn't forget about the challenge.

Their best cards and their uniforms were on the line. Whoever lost would be proven wrong and humiliated. Jesse thought this was going to be fun.

"I put up the card Final Countdown as my ante," Chris declared.

"Then I put up my Butterfly Queen," Jesse said.

Another boy from the Duel Monsters Team stepped into the center of the unmarked arena. "One match starting with four-thousand Life Points and Battle City rules," he announced. "The coin toss determined Chris makes the first move."

Jesse didn't care if he went first or second. He turned on his duel disk and they both declared the start of the match. "Duel!"

**Jesse: 4000  
Chris: 4000**

"First, I draw!" Chris stated and he looked over the six cards now in his hand. Smirking he lifted a card and slipped into the magic and trap section. "I activate the card I put up for the ante, _Final Countdown_!" Jesse's eyes narrowed. He wasn't expecting such a rare card to be played so early in the duel. "By activating this card, I pay 2000 Life Points, and after twenty turns, meaning ten of my turns, I automatically win the duel, no questions asked."

"Pretty confident you'll still be around that long," Jesse observed.

"I am, but it this doesn't mean I need _Final Countdown _to win, you probably won't even last long enough to see the effect in action," Chris said. "But my turn is not over yet, I now activate _Ookazi_ which inflicts 800 points of direct damage to you."

Jesse cringed.

"Is he allowed to do that on the first turn?" Julia asked from the sidelines.

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, but most people don't play like that." Julia's eyes widened slightly upon hearing that, and then she glared at his opponent.

"But my turn isn't over yet, I now place _Giant Rat _(1400/1450) in defense position and I'll end my turn." The card's hologram appeared before them and Jesse understood why Chris went for such a offensive approach. The guy didn't draw any better monsters. His deck might be unbalanced.

_Final Countdown_'s counter began, counting one turn of twenty. That card will force this duel to be short. Though that doesn't mean it can't be even shorter.

**Chris: 2000  
Jesse: 3200**

"Alright, I draw," Jesse said as he drew a card and looked over his hand. "First I play a spell card, _Soul of the Pure_ to gain back the 800 Life Points I just lost, and then I lay a card in facedown defense position and one card in my Spell and Trap card zone. That's it for now."

Unfortunately, that was the best he could do at the moment. However, with all the facedowns, he could make a pretty good counter soon.

**Chris: 2000  
Jesse: 4000**

"Playing defensive, huh? Whatever, I draw," Chirs said. "First I play the spell _Stop Defense_," he said and Jesse's only monster card was forced to flip over into attack position. It was _4-Starred Ladybug of Doom _(800/1200). "Shoot!"

Jesse smirked. "I guess that means you know about my monster's flip effect, which destroys all level four monsters on your side of the field. Say goodbye to your _Giant Rat_."

"Tsk, whatever, I've got more in store for you than just that," Chris said. "I summon _Pitch-Black Warwolf _(1600/600) in attack position, and due to its effect, you can't activate any trap cards during the battle phase."

Jesse frowned, knowing what was going to happen next, and he wouldn't be able to stop it due to that effect.

"Attack _Pitch-Black Warwolf_ that whimpy _4-Starred Ladybug of Doom_," Chris commanded. As soon as the monster was gone, Chris continued with the second main phase instead of skipping to the end phase. "Now I activate _Final Flame _to inflict 600 points of direct damage.

"Not so fast, I activate the trap _Magic Jammer_, which negates the effect of your spell card," Jesse said as he hit the button on his duel disk to reveal the card on the field. After the effect, their spent cards were placed in the graveyard.

**Chris: 2000  
Jesse: 3400**

"My turn, I draw," Jesse said. He didn't have anything in his hand that was strong enough to take on Chris's monster. However, there was something that might work. "I place a monster face down and end my turn."

**Chris: 2000  
Jesse: 3400**

"I'm not afraid of your facedown, now I draw," Chris said. He now had two cards in his hand. "I summon _Masked Dragon_ (1400/1100) in attack mode!" The red and white dragon appeared on the field next to his _Pitch-Black Warwolf_. "Now, _Masked Dragon_, attack his face down!"

Jesse smirked and flipped the card over on his duel disk. "You just activated my _Man-Eater Bug_'s flip effect. This card destroys one of your monsters and they are now both sent to the grave, and I choose to destroy your _Pitch-Black Warwolf_. With his only other monster gone, it forced the battle phase to end.

"I end my turn…"

**Chris: 2000  
Jesse: 3400**

Only five turns have passed since Final Countdown was activated, but the only damage Chris has taken so far was the cost Final Countdown required during the first turn. Jesse really needed to step up his game if he was going to survive this duel. This guy wasn't actually half bad, though quite aggressive. If the duel kept up like this, with no damage being dealt for several turns, then Final Countdown would force the duel to end.

"Draw," Jesse said as he looked as his cards. "Come on out, _Needle Honey Bee_ (1500/400)." The insect monster appeared and buzzed. "Attack _Masked Dragon _(1400/1100)!"

Chris wasn't able to defend against the attack and his monster perished and was quickly sent to the graveyard.

"And that's it for now," Jesse ended his turn.

**Chris: 1900  
Jesse: 3400 **

Chris drew his card and looked over his hand. "That one hit didn't do you any good, I'm about to get those points right back."

"…Great."

"I activate _Dian Keto the Cure Master_ to increase my life points by 1000, but that's not all, I also activate _Tremendous Fire_ with deals a devastating 1000 points of damage to you and 500 to me." The flames spread wildly and they both took damage.

"Jesse, are you okay?" Julia called to him.

Jesse shook it off. "Yeah." Many of the students were cheering from the display and rooting to either side.

"That's not all, I'll set a monster face down and now end my turn," Chris declared.

**Chris: 2400  
Jesse: 2400**

"I draw!" Jesse looked at his hand. He had a plan. "First I'm summon _Insect Knight (_1900/1500) and then I'll equip him with _Insect Armor with Laser Cannon_ which adds 700 attack points to an insect-type monster, giving him a total of 2600."

The monster powered up and the spectators whooped and awed.

"Go _Insect Knight_, attack that facedown," Jesse declared and the card was revealed to be _Skull Dog Marron _(1350/2000). It was sent to the graveyard without enough defense points to defend from the powered up _Insect Knight_. "Now _Needle Honey Bee _(1500/400), attack him directly!" Jesse ended his turn after that.

**Chris: 900  
Jesse: 2400**

Chris drew his card and paused. He looked up at the two monsters staring him down on his empty field. There was obviously nothing he could do with the single card now in his hand. Final Countdown's counter was not even halfway to an automatic win.

"I put one card in facedown defense." He ended his turn.

**Chris: 900  
Jesse: 2400**

Jesse was about to gloat that he was about to win, but he knew better. That facedown could have a wicked flip effect. He drew his card and skipped to the battle phase. "Attack that facedown, _Insect Knight (_2600/1500)."

The card flipped over to reveal a normal summon, _Takuhee_ (1450/1000) a winged-beast. It was sent to the graveyard. Chris's field was wide open. It appeared he was going to see his defeat through to the end.

"Now _Needle Honey Bee _(1500/400), attack him directly one more time and end this duel!"

**Chris: 0  
Jesse: 2400**

The crowd of students that had been gradually growing throughout the duel cheered and hollered, making a commotion. As the dust settled. Jesse cleared his duel disk and put his deck away and turned off the device.

He was about to approach his opponent to tell him it was a good duel and that he didn't want his best card or the uniform from winning. Jesse would rather convince him to apologize to Julia for what happened the other morning.

"You cheated," Chris accused.

Jesse heard Julia gasp behind him. He didn't realize she followed him and was mere steps away. Meanwhile, the other students began to mutter questioningly.

"I did no such thing, and you know it, Chris," Jesse said. All respect he might have gained for the guy during the duel vanished just like that. Being a sore loser and claiming someone cheated just because he lost was low and disrespectful as a duelist.

"Liar, I'm not giving you my best card."

Jesse's eyes narrowed. "You lost fair and square."

Julia tugged on Jesse's sleeve. "How can you prove you didn't cheat?"

"I can't, and there wasn't a referee watching the duel to falsify it either," Jesse explained.

"Actually, there was." An adult stepped through the crowd of students. It was the Duel Monsters Team adviser, Mr. Von, who also taught physics. He was a man of average height and build with short black hair. "You're deck is still unbalanced, Chris, and if you keep breaking the rules, you're going to be kicked off the team entirely, you should know better than to go picking fights when you're still on probation from your last transgression."

Chris didn't respond, but instead he ripped off his uniform jacket and threw it to the ground before storming off. His friends didn't follow him and everyone looked at the teacher.

"You have a pretty good game, ever think about joining the team?" Mr. Von asked Jesse.

"Thought about it, yeah," he responded.

"How about you follow me to my classroom, even if you don't want to join the team, there's something else that might interest you," he said.

"Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, just come with me."

Jesse nodded and looked back at Julia and motioned for her to follow as well. She was going to ask what it was about anyway, so she might as well see for herself. As they left, so did the other students as it was the end of the day and it was time to go home. Many of them were talking about the duel.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:**

First: My first attempt at writing a duel. I duel in real life and played one of the handheld games, so I have a little experience to go off of besides the anime and manga. I debated with myself a great deal about whether to use 4000 or 8000 Life Points. I have no idea what is preferred for fanfiction. The fandom might be divided on this.

Second: Remember when I told you in chapter 1 that if you liked "Johan" better than "Jesse", you could copy&paste the chapter into your preferred text editor and use Replace All? Turns out this site has updated to disallow highlighting/selecting text in the body of a chapter. There are ways to get around it, but seeing as I won't condone theft (which is the only reason this update would come about), I will not post such work-arounds publicly, despite how annoying this kind of limitation is. Hopefully, the admins will change it back someday. If you do not have a select/highlight work-around and need to inform me of a grammatical error, please PM me with the chapter location and re-type just enough of the sentence so I can find it, and include with the error/correction in parentheses.


	5. The Fateful Decision

**Going Pro**

**Chapter 5: The Fateful Decision**

Jesse Anderson and his friend, Julia Autumns, walked to the bike racks in front of the school. The coach and adviser of the Duel Monsters Team, Mr. Von, had taken Jesse to the classroom the team normally used and then tried to recruit Jesse for the team.

When Jesse respectfully declined, the teacher showed him a flyer for an upcoming tournament. Mr. Von said that Jesse had the makings of a real duelist, and that Jesse should take this opportunity to test his skills against other duelists that were at his level. There was going to be prospective sponsors searching for new faces in the dueling profession, so if Jesse managed to impress one of them, he might get the chance to participate in future tournaments by representing a company that would also pay for all travel and boarding expenses. Maybe two or three people out of these kinds of tournaments ever get scouted by a sponsor, but they were still amazing opportunities into the dueling profession.

"Jesse?" Julia asked.

"I just don't know," Jesse sighed. "Going to these things would require missing school and leaving home… and," he trailed off of a few seconds. Julia was about to ask another question. "It sounds like fun," he chuckled. "I'll just have to think about it."

"If it's any help, I think you should go too," she said.

"Competitions aren't really my thing, I just want to duel to duel."

"I would think competing would be your calling," Julia commented.

Jesse smiled, albeit sadly. "There's something else I am supposed to be doing, I just don't know what it is yet."

"Do you think the competitions could lead you to where you're supposed to be?"

Jesse was silent as he unlocked his bike. Most of the bikes were gone already. He wasn't in that much of a hurry to get home anyway. His mother wouldn't be there, so he only needed to tend to the animals.

"So I'll see you on Monday, okay? Don't forget about that economics paper," Julia said meekly, but it was still loud enough for him to hear her.

"Yeah, later," he said an rode off. He thought about what to do. What it would mean to go to such a competition, and what it would mean to pass up such an opportunity. He was well aware that he couldn't just wait around for life to happen. The only way he was going to find his destiny was to take some of it into his own hands. But what was the right choice? Go or don't go?

There was only one person he could ask. He wouldn't be able to answer either, but maybe talking to him would help. With that in mind, Jesse left his bike by the cemetery entrance and approached his grandfather's grave.

"Hey, Grandpa, it's me again," Jesse said as he sat down in the grass before the headstone. "I hope Mom's come to visit. We're doing fine by the way, though Mom said she was going to try to take on some extra hours at work to make ends meet. Keeping Jade is kind of hard on her financially. I'm doing my best too, helping out as much as I can and going to school… I wish I could talk to human spirits or ghosts right now, since I need your advice."

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

He felt like he was falling endlessly. It was an oddly gentle glide as the air shifted through his hair and clothes. When he opened his eyes, the sky was above him. Crystal clear azure was endless. He was warm. Looking to the side, he could see a temple at the peak of a mountain above a layer of clouds.

"Rome?" Jesse wondered aloud.

A high-pitch squeak echoed in his head in response. He had never heard that sound before, but it already seemed familiar. It was like a small animal trying to get his attention.

As he continued to fall at the gentle pace, the sun refracted in the light mist around the temple, creating a rainbow. Jesse found himself wanting to get a closer look. As soon as he moved his body, he could only gasp as he started falling rapidly and continued through the clouds. He shielded his eyes from the wind and the moisture.

He then heard a horse neigh loudly. It was close. But that wasn't possible. Horses can't be in the sky. They can't fly. Then he saw a shadow through the fog of the clouds, followed by another neigh. However, this time the sound was more familiar and not as loud.

The same sound happened again, and this time, Jesse woke up in his bed at home. He rubbed his eyes and reached for his glasses before he looked out the window. Jade was in her round pen asking for food. Jesse realized he had slept in a good few extra hours.

"Guess I should've have stayed up late playing my handheld," Jesse chuckled to himself before hopping out of bed. He quickly got dressed and brushed his teeth.

Jesse was going to take care of the chickens first, but found they were gone. They only owned three and they stuck together. He guessed his mother let them out of the coup when she got up so Jesse ran over to the small barn. With a quick slash of a pocket knife, he cut the twine on a bail of hay. They were beginning to run low, so Jesse knew they would need to buy more.

Jesse called for the cat, but it didn't appear like normal. Cats are pretty independent so Jesse knew the cat would be fine. He can just put out some cat food later. When Jesse went back into the house, he let the dog in with him and started on putting together something to eat.

There were some sounds coming from the next room so the dog ran in there. "Mom?" Jesse called into the house. Her car was here, so she was home.

"Yeah?"

Jesse picked up his bowl of cereal and stepped into the doorway of the front room. His mom was surrounded by boxes. It looked like she was packing. "What are you doing?"

"Just cleaning, but I have to put everything away before I can reorganize," she explained. "I want to either clean or replace the carpet in here, so I have to get everything out first."

"Oh, okay," Jesse said before eating his cereal while watching for a minute. "Why are you taking down the stuff on the walls too?" he asked.

"Might as well wash the walls too," she said. "I don't know when I will have another burst of energy like this, so I'm not going to waste it."

"I guess." Jesse thought it was bit excessive. The house never got that dirty. Maybe just kind of dusty sometimes.

"I put your new contacts on the bathroom counter, don't lose them this time," she said.

"Thanks!" Jesse said and quickly finished his cereal.

He stepped into the bathroom and saw the small case on the counter just like she said. It wasn't there when he was brushing his teeth. He opened up the container and looked inside. "Yep, two lenses, just what I need," he grinned. "One day I think I'll get that laser eye surgery thing folks keep talking about…" Jesse thought about it for a second and started to turn blue. "Or I'll wait until the technology gets a little better," he nodded to himself.

After he closed the container and set it back down, he went to his room and found his cell phone was lit up with a text massage. He picked it up and opened the message.

"_Do you have secrets?" _- From Julia. It was received only ten minutes ago.

"Huh?" Jesse quirked an eyebrow. That was a random question. Was something bothering her?

"_Did something happen?" _- Massage Sent.

Jesse put down his phone and got a notebook out of his bag. As soon as he opened it, his phone buzzed on the desk.

"_I've been keeping a secret."_ - From Julia.

Jesse was confused. It was a strange way to start a conversation. If she didn't want to tell him something, he was fine with that. Sure they're friends, but they aren't so close that he would be upset over not knowing everything little thing about her.

"_I think everyone has secrets."_ - Message Sent.

Jesse knew for sure he did. After how people treated him whenever he would speak to spirits, he quickly learned it was not an ability everyone possessed, and that it was not something to talk about freely. Until he entered high school and met Julia, he didn't have any friends, because they all thought he was either weird or insane. The only consolidation he ever received was from his grandfather.

He heard another girl in class tell Julia to stay away from him. The other girl had been in the same class as him before. Julia had asked why, and was told Jesse stilled talked to imaginary friends and that many believed he might be schizophrenic. Jesse figured it was best to let Julia believe it was just childhood prejudice and just stupid kids being stupid and making fun of the kid who still had imaginary friends.

Julia had just smiled softly and meekly said; "He doesn't seem like that anymore and he's actually really nice." Jesse knew she was a good person. He knew she had a kind strong heart, even if she didn't know it herself.

Another message caused his phone to buzz again. _"I guess you're right, nevermind."_ - From Julia.

"Okay?" Jesse hoped she was alright.

"_Are you okay?"_ - Message Sent.

He didn't receive an answer.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

Jesse went out to the barn later in the early evening to check on the horse. The chickens were still out. Normally they were back in their little coup by now. No eggs today either. It was unusual.

Jesse was about to put more hay out for her when he noticed the hay it put in earlier was still there. "Jade, why aren't you eating, girl?" He hoped she wasn't getting sick. "Are ya looking for this?" Jesse grinned and held up an apple.

Jade nosed the apple and nibbled at it in his hand, but she didn't take it. Jesse frowned and dropped in on her hay to have later. Grooming the horse only took a few minutes. Her shoes were still looking good, mane kept as always, so Jesse decided to just stand there and pet her when he was done.

"I think I dreamt about you," he said. "First I heard another animal, one I've never heard before, and then a horse." Jade stood there, just shifting her feet a little as she looked at him. "I visited Grandpa yesterday, told him you're doing fine, but now it looks like you might need to see a vet if you can't eat." Jesse wasn't sure what the horse could have possibly got into that would upset her stomach so much. "I left the apple here for you if you still want it, gotta go," he said and ran back into the house.

He stumbled a little in his haste to take his shoes off. The dog almost made him trip too. Then he found his mom stacking up the boxes she had been filling in the front room. "Oh good, you're here, would you pick up that box, it's a little heavy."

Jesse looked to where she pointed and picked up the box. It was labeled 'books' so of course it was going to be heavy. "Where do you want it?"

"By the door," she said.

Jesse put the box down and turned to his mother. "I didn't see the chickens today," Jesse said.

"Would you also pick up those boxes and stack them on top of the other one?" his mother asked.

"Sure." He began moving them one at a time. "I didn't see the cat today either," he said as he walked through the oddly cluttered but empty room.

"What was that?" His mother didn't hear him.

"I didn't see the chickens or the cat today, Mom," Jesse pressed.

"Oh they're fine, don't worry about it," she assured him.

"Did you see them today?" Jesse asked after he set down the box.

"I saw them this morning," she said.

"Oh okay," Jesse said. At least they didn't disappear in the night. That would be awful. However, he thought she should have mentioned where she saw them.

"I'm going to get dinner started," she said and disappeared into the kitchen.

Jesse was about to tell his mother about the horse. If Jade needed a veterinarian, then his mother would need to know about it. It's not like Jesse would be able to pay for that service himself. He didn't have money.

As soon as Jesse finished moving the boxes, he followed his mother into the kitchen. She was putting some water on the stove to boil. "Don't forget to wash your hands," she reminded him.

Jesse pouted slightly and then looked at his hands. There was dirt all over them. After washing them, he dried them off on a towel. "Hey Mom, Jade didn't eat much if any of her food today, I think she might need a vet."

"I'm sure she's fine, Jesse," she answered. "But if this is only the first day she's gone without eating, it's probably better to see if there's actually a problem first, so if she's still not eating anything in a another day or so, we'll call the vet."

Jesse didn't like it, but was obliged to nod and go along with it. She had a point after all. It could just be a simple stomach ache and she could be fine in the morning. That thought didn't put his mind at ease in any degree.

He and his mother ate together is relative silence for several minutes. Jesse was almost done eating before either of them tried to make conversation. "How's school?" his mother asked. It was a generic question, but seemed sincere.

"I dueled on Friday," Jesse answered. "I won, so the team adviser tried to recruit me. I said no though."

"Why's that?"

"…I don't want to be a part of that team," he said simply. It was a half truth. Only one of the many reasons, but the easiest to explain.

"I see. Is there anything else new?"

"There's a tournament I'm thinking about entering, it's one with scouts and sponsors, and the adviser thinks I should enter," he said.

"That… sounds like quite the opportunity," she said.

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, it is."

"Is it something you want to do?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered. "Kind of, but I asked Grandpa anyway…" he was going to say more but his mother set a cup down forcefully, causing him to pause.

"Jesse, you're too old for that little game anymore, you can't talk to spirits, do you understand?" It wasn't really a question. "I should have never let my father encourage you, I never thought it was last so long…"

Jesse didn't say anything. He got up, put his dishes in the sink, and went to his room. He slammed the door shut. If there was ever a moment he wanted to scream, it was now. Instead he fell on his bed and stuffed his face in his pillow.

"I'm not crazy…" he mumbled into the fluffy cushion. "I just… wanted to talk to him."

Talking to his grandfather's grave had made him feel a little better. It was the only time he felt he could be truly honest about everything, even his own uncertainties and doubts. But now, when his mother gave him that hopeless look, he wished he never went. He had decided, in the end, it was his decision to make if he participated in the tournament or not.

Jesse rolled over onto his pack and raised his hand above him before making a fist. The tournament would take him away from home for a weekend. Maybe some time away was just what he needed. "I'll do it."

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:**

Until next time. I might take a break from this story for a bit. I don't know. I'm trying to get to the parts I'm more excited about quicker, but I don't want to sacrifice any the lead up. Conflicted.

If you are wondering about these "- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -" It's because the actual lines don't always show up, especially if you're like me and like to zoom out on the page for whatever reasons.


	6. Sudden Loss

**Going Pro**

**Chapter 6: Sudden Loss  
**

"I've decided to participate in the tournament," Jesse announced.

"Spectacular!" Mr. Von's face lit up. "I'll get the paperwork put together, since you'll still be representing the school, your train ticket and hotel is a part of the budget."

"I understand," Jesse nodded.

"All you need to fill out is this form here." He handed Jesse small packet of a couple papers.

Jesse looked at the form. "Does my mom need to sign this too?" He pointed to a section at the bottom of the form.

"That's only if you're under fifteen, don't worry about it," Mr. Von explained. "Just bring that back to me tomorrow morning or whenever you get it done."

"Sure thing, thank you," Jesse said politely before exiting the classroom.

Jesse had got to school early that morning so he could talk to the teacher. There was still a little time before classes started, so he figured he could start filling out the form now. He went straight to his first class of the day and took his seat. The classroom was empty except for him. Other students were entering the building and beginning to get into their lockers and classrooms.

Jesse carefully wrote out his name on the form along with his other basic information. It was very simple. Just his age, school, and agreement to the guidelines which he read through. Basically don't cheat, be punctual, and don't abuse any of the equipment provided. It appeared he would have to wait in his changing room until it was his turn to duel to help prevent cheating, fraud, and sabotage.

"Did you decide to go?" Julia said from beside him, startling him slightly. She was looking at the papers.

"Yep," he nodded.

"I'm glad," Julia smiled. "I hope you do really well."

Jesse nodded once. "Thanks."

"I know you'll at least have fun there, but what made change your-" Julia didn't to finish her question when another classmate stepped between the two and interrupted.

"You're Jesse Anderson right?"

Jesse looked up to see Simone Summers, the class representative. She had never talked to him before. At first all he could do was nod.

"I heard you beat Chris in a duel, so you must be really good," she smiled as she tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Well, I uh…" Jesse wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that. Yes, he'd always been good at dueling, but was he allowed to praise himself to an acquaintance?

"Everyone's talking about it, so you must be getting a lot of attention." Simone glanced back at Julia for a fraction of a second.

"Actually I got here early today and I've only talked to Mr. Von about it," Jesse explained. "Besides you, no one else has approached me."

"Oh, so I get to be first?" she smiled again as she leaned forward a little over his desk to force him to look at her.

"I guess?" Jesse was back to being unsure how to respond. He mostly couldn't get over how pretty she was. One of the prettiest, smartest, nicest girls in school was talking to him now. Did she like him in that way? He'd be okay with that. She smelled really nice. Not like flowers, but a mixture of something else. Maybe something edible. He wished he didn't skip breakfast to get to school early. It was making him hungry.

"What's that?" she asked and pointed to the papers on his desk.

"This is for a tournament," Jesse said.

"Wow, so you must have really wiped the floor with Chris if the school is sending you instead! That's impressive."

"I don't know about that," Jesse started.

"Well, it's almost time for classes to start, I'll talk to you later, okay?" She winked playfully as she turned away and then cheerfully made her way to the front of the room where her seat was.

Jesse was surprised she left so quickly after she initiated conversation. Was he not pleasant enough? Did everything he say come out wrong? Was he staring at her in inappropriate places? He didn't think he was, but sometimes eyes wander, and he couldn't help it. He was a normal person after all.

He noticed Julia move passed him as she took her seat silently. After glancing at Simone again, he settled back on his friend. "…Sorry," Jesse said to Julia. "You kind of got interrupted."

"You don't need to be sorry," she said quietly. As she opened a book and began scanning through it, Jesse put his paperwork away in his bag and retrieved his notebook.

Jesse noticed as the other students came into the room, they would either glance or stare at him. No one paid this much attention to him before. He began to wonder if it had anything to do with what Simone told him, about how everyone was talking about his duel with Chris. Jesse didn't mind one way or the other about the attention, good or bad, but he never thought anything like this would result from that duel.

One of the students said Chris skipped school today. They began to gossip about why. Only one person suggested he might be sick, while the others seemed to be agreement that he was still humiliated and didn't want to show his face at school. They talked about how low it was for him to claim his opponent cheated and then he didn't even hold up his end of the bargain when he lost.

Jesse began to wonder if those students even knew he was the opponent and that he was sitting right there across the room, near enough to hear the conversation clearly. He wanted to say something, but had no idea what to say. He wasn't going to stand up for Chris, not after the disrespect he displayed.

Before Jesse got the chance to say anything, the teacher came in and everyone halted their conversations and shuffled to their seats. Most of them began taking out their notebooks and pencils. Some simply sat there and looked at their mobile devices.

"Mr. Anderson," the teacher said, making Jesse jump slightly in his seat as he was called on.

"Y-yes?" Jesse answered. All the students' eyes were suddenly on him.

"You're early to class for once," she stated. "Normally you're barely on time."

"U-uh, I had something to take care of this morning," he answered.

"Good to see you're at least capable of arriving early," she said. Jesse wondered if that was supposed to be a joke, but it was hard to see the humor in it when he was practically sweating as he smiled nervously and tried not to acknowledge his peers who seemed to just realize he was there despite talking about him. Jesse never thought of himself as the invisible type before. His blue hair alone should stand out recognizably.

Classes started and Jesse zoned out. He had forgotten about the economics paper until the night before, even though Julia had reminded him on Friday, so he had to write it in a hurry. At least it was something to turn in for partial credit if he didn't do well. He didn't care about the grades.

Then his favorite time of the day finally rolled around. It was time for lunch and he got up quickly so he could buy something. He was in such a hurry this morning, not only did he not have time to eat breakfast, he didn't pack a lunch either. Needless to say, he was starving.

"Um Jesse? I have something for-" Julia began as Jesse began to pass by her.

"Sorry Julia, I have to buy a lunch today and I don't want to wait in a line," he said as he rushed off. "I'll be back!"

"But I brought you a lunch too…" she called after him, but her voice faded as she realized he got too far away to hear him.

Before Jesse could return to class, he remembered he was going to drop off the signed carbon copy for the tournament with Mr. Von. Unlike Simone, the other students didn't talk to him about Friday's duel, but they were obviously talking about him as he passed by. Jesse paid them no mind and continued on his way. He hardly ever cared what others thought or said about him. Being the class weirdo for so long had steeled him against a lot of treatment, so he didn't bother to find out if it was good or bad gossip.

When he got back to class, Jesse updated his friend about what he was doing for the tournament. Now he just had to wait a while as his forms get processed and he gets officially accepted. Mr. Von was sure he would since he would be the only one from their school to go. The others of the team didn't have very good win records. Many lower-level tournaments or even just brand new ones only required signing up at least one day beforehand, but this one was actually going to have official big-name prospective sponsors and managers watching, so things were being planned more carefully. Mr. Von was hoping for a school sponsor, but knew many sponsors sought to hire just one person instead of training a team. Still bragging rights for the school if one of their students gets picked.

Julia went straight home after school without saying goodbye. Jesse wondered if she was upset about something. He forgot all about it when he saw a Sky Scout duel spirit on the way home. Naturally, the spirit was in the sky. Jesse could tell that the spirit was attached to someone's deck. He wasn't sure how, he just knew. Jesse waved to him and he noticed. When the Sky Scout waved back, Jesse felt delighted and a wide smile spread across his face. Some spirits were friendly.

As he continued to ride home on his bike, Jesse wondered how many spirits he would see at the tournament. He hoped there would be a lot. Friendly ones too. He liked to talk to them. Many had wonderful stories. There were some that liked to stay quiet, and that was alright too.

Jesse also took his detour by the cemetery on his way home so he would wave to his grandfather's grave. That was one spirit he always wished he could talk to. Jesse wondered if human spirits did stick around somehow, if perhaps he just wasn't able to see them. That thought depressed him. To see one type of spirit, but not the other.

Shaking those thoughts aside, he focused on being excited about dueling. It was always best to think about the positives. Good to think about things to look forward to. Whatever kept a smile on his face and his heart light.

The dog barked as Jesse approached his house. As always, he dropped his bike by the kitchen's side door and went inside. The dog ran around his legs to get into the house first, causing Jesse to almost trip. After taking off his shoes, he stepped into the kitchen and found his mother sitting at the table. He planned to get a snack and then change out of his uniform quickly.

"Hey, Mom," Jesse greeted as he opened the refrigerator to look for a snack. He was still a little mad at his mother about yelling at him during the weekend, but not so much that he was going to ignore her obvious presence. Still, she was oddly serious, so much so that when she didn't respond to his greeting, Jesse paused before closing the refrigerator and looked at her. "Mom? Something wrong?"

She drew in a shaky breath. "Jesse, you should sit down," she offered.

Jesse didn't know what to say. He was already on guard for what she was about to say. It could only be bad. There was a small voice in his head that told him that maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was good news, just life changing. Maybe she's getting remarried. There's reason for her to be concerned about how he would feel about that. He's never met his mother's boyfriends before. Something like that would be a big change.

Jesse sat down at the table silently and his mother began speaking again. "I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to say it."

Jesse visibly tensed. His heart raced while his mind reeled through the possibilities. There wasn't anything that could have prepared him for what she ended up saying. "Jade died."

His heart stopped. He didn't even breathe. Cold washed over him and everything stopped.

"She was a very old horse and it was her time. I already called to have the body picked up. She's gone."

He couldn't believe it. Without thinking, he quickly stood up and ran back outside. He forgot his shoes and ran in his socks. The white quickly turned brown. He could see the tire tracks in the ground leading up to the barn. He still refused to believe it. Throwing open the door, he dashed in and looked into Jade's stall. Other than the hay that was still in the feeder, it was empty.

He opened the stall and paced around inside it before running into the round pen. It was empty. Jade was nowhere to be seen. She was gone. "No…" He found feel is heart dropping into his stomach. His gut clenched. His hands were trembling.

He looked out into the pasture. There wasn't even a trail worn down through the grass. Thinking he missed something, he went back into the barn. He searched every corner, as if she could shrink herself.

Reality began to descend on him. "Why?" He didn't get to say goodbye. It was too sudden. As he thought about it, he felt like an idiot. He called himself a damn fool. There were signs and warnings left and right, and he missed them. He had no idea those were signs of the end. Jesse thought she just has a stomach ache. "I'm so stupid…"

Jesse dropped to his knees in the center of the eerily empty stall. He couldn't breathe as he cried silently. As the tears fell, he covered his face with his hands and dropped forward into a trembling ball. It hurt. Everything hurt so much.

He wished this didn't have to happen. He wished he was more prepared, but he knew there was nothing that could have prepared him for this. It was just like when his grandfather died. Such a slow death in the hospital, when he knew it could happen any day, even when he got to say goodbye, it still hurt. Why do the ones he loves have to die? Jade was the last piece of his grandpa be had. Now she was gone too. It was like his grandfather had died all over again.

Anger bubbled up within him. Why didn't his mother know this was going to happen when he told her that Jade wasn't eating? Didn't she care? Why didn't they call the vet right away? Couldn't have something been different? Why didn't he do something himself?

"I'm so stupid!" he shouted as he punched the ground. He punched it over and over again. The pain shooting up his arm and through his hand seemed to distract from the pain within. "It's not fair… I should die. I want to die."

He laid there for hours. The sun went down and his tears dried up. There was nothing but a dull ache throughout his body. He wasn't hungry anymore and he didn't care about eating ever again either. There was nothing on his mind. He just wanted the darkness to swallow him up. If it took forever, he could wait for it to happen.

His mother still went to work that night and left him alone. He eventually fell asleep there. As he did so, he wished he would never wake up so he wouldn't have to feel the pain anymore. Not the pain, loneliness, or abandonment. He wanted them all gone. He wanted to disappear himself.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:**

R.I.P. Jade. You were an important part of Jesse's life.


	7. When Everything is Grey

**Going Pro**

**Chapter 7: When Everything is Grey**

To say he was disoriented when he eventually woke up would be an understatement. The dog was sniffing and licking his face. At first, Jesse had no idea where he was or why he felt so sick. One of his first thoughts was that he fell asleep while wearing his contacts.

"Shit," he cursed as he rubbed at the edges of his eyes and sat up. Surprisingly, his eyes didn't hurt, so his new contacts must be amazing or he didn't actually sleep for very long at all. His eyes were still puffy, but he knew why that was. He blinked several times and focused on his surroundings. Nothing matched what he expected to see. It took him a good minute to slowly put the pieces together and remember where he was and why. He let out a deep sigh and slowly got up.

It was still very early. He had to go to school. There was dirt all over the side of his face and in his hair. He felt damp and gross and wanted to wash up. Slowly, he closed up the barn and made his way into the house. The dog ran around his legs and Jesse tripped, landing with a loud thud on top of his shoes that he left in the entrance the day before.

"Ouch…" he cringed and then just laid there for a minute. The dog ran back and nosed his arm and face. "I'm okay," he said and got up.

He got to the bathroom and shed his uniform. Then he cleaned his contacts and put them in their case before turning on the shower. He just stood in it for a long time. His now wet blue hair stuck to his face and neck as he stared blankly at the drain. He felt stupid for another reason now. Stupid and weak. He still wanted to cry, but held it in. He figured he had cried enough was done crying. Despite his efforts, he wasn't able to hold it in for long. The tears mixed with the hot water and left down the drain.

He decided to skip school for the day. There was no point in going anyway. People were probably still gossiping about him, not that he cared about that. People always gossiped. He wasn't going to be able to focus at all and he didn't want to be there most days as it was already, even more so today.

Before he could run out of hot water, he grabbed his soap and washed properly. When he was done, he dried off, wrapped his towel around his waist, gathered up his dirty uniform, and headed to his room where he got dressed in his sleep clothes. It was only morning and he already went back to bed.

When his mother got home, she opened his bedroom door to check on him. He was laying on his side under the covers and facing the wall. "Jesse, are you going to school?" she asked.

"No," he answered. He didn't bother turning so he could look at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to eat something?" She knew he didn't have any dinner.

"No."

"Okay. Do you want your cell phone?"

"…'Kay," he answered and listened as his mother put the device on his desk right next to him. It had been in the front pocket on his book bag.

"I called your school and excused you from class today. Be sure to eat something later, okay?"

Jesse only nodded this time and listened as his mother closed the door and she headed to her own room. His phone buzzed several times as he received text messages. They were probably from Julia. She was the only one that ever bothered to contact him. She was probably the only one that actually noticed he wasn't at school yet. He didn't feel like talking to her. She had her own problems to worry about.

He turned over and reached for his cell phone. He didn't look at the messages nor did he bother to turn it off before he opened up the back and removed the battery and left the pieces on his desk. Rolling back over, he went to sleep.

Unlike the dreamless sleep he had that night, he had a reoccurring dream this time. He was in Rome again. At least in the skies above a Roman temple. He heard those animal sounds again and he couldn't tell if they were distant or nearby. They were coming from the temple. He wanted to get a closer look. This time when he moved, he was able to glide through the air, instead of falling like last time. As he got closer to the temple, he realized how massive it was. It had actually been far away, but there was nothing to provide perspective above the clouds. He tried to get closer, but soon realized he couldn't move any further, like there was some sort of invisible barrier. There was something that kept those animals locked up in that temple and even prevented him from seeing who or what they were.

When he heard the horse once again, he jolted awake. He immediately sat up and looked out the window and saw the empty round pen and barn. His heart sank.

"Um, morning," someone started from beside him.

He looked over quickly in surprise, but was even more surprised by what he saw. "Julia? What are you doing here?" He reached for his glasses and put them on to get a better look. She was wearing her school uniform as she sat in his desk chair.

"I heard there was a death in your family, so I came to offer condolences," she explained meekly. "I talked to your mother for a minute before she had to leave for work, she told me your horse died. I'm sorry."

Jesse was silent for several seconds before be moved to sit on the edge of his bed with his feet on the floor. "What time is it?"

"A little past five in the evening, your mother just left," Julia answered.

"Okay," he said. "How did you get here?" he asked.

"My father drove me. He's going to pick me up again in a little while, maybe an hour or two."

"Oh."

Julia frowned. She didn't like Jesse this way. It was like there was a literal dark cloud round him. His face was paler than usual. Normally his fair skin was bright, but now it was dull and almost grey. She wished she could make him feel a little better. She looked around his bedroom. It was her first time seeing it. Not that there was much to see. A bed, desk, dresser, mirror, and a shelf on the wall. He didn't even have any posters, but she saw the postcards, magazine, and DA brochure on his desk. Then she remembered what she could do for him and she got the idea from him just last week. "I brought you some chicken and barley stew, are you hungry?"

At those words, his stomach answered for him. He hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. His body craved anything edible, even if his appetite still disagreed. Still, he knew he should eat. His rampant emotions from the night before had drained away, leaving him with just an empty feeling. He didn't know what he was thinking last night, but he knew he thought some pretty horrible things. "Sure, I'll have some now," he finally answered quietly. "I'm going to the bathroom first."

Jesse stood up and felt weak, mostly faint. He had to walk slowly and carefully, but he made it to the bathroom without problem and closed the door behind him. Julia went to the kitchen to reheat the stew she brought for him and his mother as a condolences offering.

Before he left the bathroom, he washed his face, brushed his teeth, and put on his contacts again. Then he found his friend in his kitchen. There was already a lightly steaming bowl waiting for him. It smelled good.

Julia noticed his eyes brighten a little when he stepped into the kitchen. "There's more in the container over there if you want some," she said and gestured the counter.

"Thanks," he nodded and sat down. He took a spoonful and tasted it. "It's good," he commented. He could feel the contents warm his body. This was exactly what he needed. The spreading warmth touched his heart in a way he wasn't expecting. It actually felt like it was healing a little.

"Do you think you'll be okay?" Julia asked. Her voice was smaller than usual, as if she was trying not to startle him or do anything wrong.

Jesse looked at her slightly surprised at her words. "Well yeah, in time," he answered. "This isn't the first time I've gone through this, so they'll be ups and downs, but I'll learn to live with it."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she offered.

"Nah, this is plenty," he gave a small smile.

"Do you… want to talk about it?"

"No," he answered simply. "This is really good, what's the secret?"

"There isn't one, it's just chicken, broth, barley, vegetables, and seasoning. It's supposed to be good for you," she said. "And besides, you brought me soup on your bike of all things when I wasn't feeling well, I wanted to repay the favor, even though I wish it was under better circumstances."

Jesse chuckled slightly. "You don't have to ever repay me for anything, Julia."

"But I wanted to," she said.

Jesse finished eating and looked at her. "Want to duel?" he asked.

Her eyes went wide and she smacked her own forehead. "Why didn't I think about that? I didn't bring my deck. I'm sorry!" Even though she didn't duel often, she still knew the rules enough to get through a few rounds.

Jesse laughed a little. "Whoa, it's fine, it's fine," he tried. "We can play anytime."

"I know, but now would have been a great time." She sighed and reached for her bag. "I did remember to get you your homework."

Jesse pouted. "You… didn't need to do that…" he said as he moved away from the papers.

Julia rolled her eyes in spite of being a little relieved. He seemed to be acting more like himself already. She knew he was still hurting, but she was reassured he would be okay. "Do you think you'll go to school tomorrow?"

"Probably," Jesse nodded and then looked far away at nothing. "It'll be a little weird though. I would see her every morning, every day, and that's not going to happen anymore." Julia nodded. She knew there was nothing she could say. There were some bright sides she could think up, like now he could sleep in a little longer if he wanted to, but she didn't want to say that yet. "I'd go to see her every night too. Sometimes I'd see her more often than my own mother. We'd go out for walks in the pasture every few days too, not so much lately, because she didn't want to go much further than her round pen. Guess it all makes sense now."

"She must have had a good life with you taking care of her," Julia said.

"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "It was just her time, I know that." It was the same when his grandfather died. The man couldn't stay forever. Neither of them wanted that anyway. His grandfather was ready to go. So was Jade. Jesse knew it wasn't about him and that they didn't suffer. However, he still questioned why he had to suffer instead.

_Follow your heart, Jesse. If there's anything I want to you remember when I'm gone, it's that. Do what you think is right, but remember to look out for others too. You're an Anderson boy after all. Continue to make me proud. I am sure you will grow up to be quite the man. _

Jesse wondered why those words came back to him. Out of everything his grandfather ever said, those were the last words of advice Jesse ever got from him. Jesse knew there was more to being a man than being physically fit and strong. It was about steeling his will and persevering, to seek knowledge and skills, and understand and know about justice and love. Jesse knew he still had a long way to go, but he was learning. It was times like this he was reminded that love will cause pain, sometimes in the form of grief and sometimes in the form of regret. Jesse never wanted to regret anything. That was why he held onto his grandfather's words and followed his heart. Or at least he tried to. Sometimes it was hard to understand, but he would forever try.

He must have spaced out for a bit, because the next thing he knew, Julia was standing next to him as she wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders in a gentle embrace. His body tensed and his eyes went wide before he looked up at her from his sitting position. The question was clear in his eyes.

"I thought you might need a hug. Is… this okay?" Julia asked.

"Oh," he started. "It's fine."

She nodded and tightened her arms around him a little, before raising one of her hands to the side of his head. He lifted one of his hands and held one of her arms, silently keeping her there. They stayed like that for a while, not moving. Eventually, she slowly stroked his hair in a comforting gesture. At first he didn't even notice, but when he did, he thought it felt nice. It had been a long time since he was held. He thought himself too old for it, but times likes this was an exception. Everyone needed support sometimes.

Jesse briefly thought about how Julia would be a good mother one day. Certainly better than his own. Sure he loved his mother, but sometimes they couldn't be more distant. Now that he thought about it, his mother had yet to offer him anything remotely resembling a comforting gesture. Yet here was his friend, wordlessly offering whatever she could. He knew he was pretty lucky to have her around.

The blue-haired youth felt his eyes growing heavy again. Despite only being awake for a short while, he was already tried again. She noticed and gently pulled away, but kept a hand on his shoulder. "Are you tired?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but I shouldn't go back to sleep already. It's probably best if I do some homework first," he said and then looked up at his friend. She looked shocked. "What?"

"You never want to do homework…" she muttered.

Jesse pouted and folded his arms over his chest. "Naturally, because homework is evil, but I have to get it done if I ever want to graduate."

Julia glanced away. "I suppose you're right about that. Do you want some help, or maybe borrow my notes?"

"That'd be good," he nodded.

It was something to do. Something to focus on. It kept him from lying in bed doing nothing. Julia's presence kept him from being alone until her father returned to pick her up. Before leaving, she offered to stay the night if he didn't want to be alone, but he assured her he would be fine. He offered a wide smile in reassurance, but she looked at him sadly instead before bidding him good night.

Jesse returned to his room after getting ready for bed. There wasn't a lot he had to do since he was already showered and dressed for bed. He mainly needed to take out his contacts and make sure they and their case were both clean. There was no way he was going to let himself get an infection before the upcoming coming tournament.

Still thinking about the tournament, he sat has his desk and looked through his cards. He knew them all very well. Too bad none of them were spirit cards. It didn't mean their spirits didn't exist somewhere though, and he would sure like the opportunity to meet them. When he put his deck away again and got back into bed, he noticed a tiny long-legged spider hanging out in the corner of the windowsill. Jesse was too tied to get a closer look at it now, but decided if it was still there in the morning, he would, and possibly put it back outside too.

While things still seemed grey and his heart was heavy, he knew he already felt a lot better. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had been bracing himself for the worst to happen for some time. It wasn't foolproof, but he believed it still helped a little. It didn't feel like it now, but he knew the heart would heal and he would keep on living, even if it's with a scar, which he had plenty of already. There was something he had to live for. That feeling that he needed to be somewhere, be doing _something_, never left him. He just needed to keep believing in himself and keep moving forward, no matter what kind of obstacles, setbacks, and challenges were placed against him.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:**

When one door closes, another opens. The fateful meeting I am sure you are waiting for is soon approaching. Hint: it's not Jaden. On a related note, I'm surprised no one mentioned Jaden's guest-star appearance in the first chapter. Oh yeah, more guest-star appearances are coming soon.

Sorry for the heavy emotional stuff going on. I am sure many of us have experienced one or both sides of grief and condolences. It's never easy. At least Jesse had one friend. Things will be picking up again shortly.

Updated this chapter quickly this time so we can get past this depressing stuff. I might be going on another break. My last one was too short to be considered a real break.


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